Detectability analysis of interplate fault slips in the Nankai subduction thrust using seafloor observation instruments

To help the decision making regarding where to locate new observation instruments on the seafloor, we examined the detectability of interplate earthquakes and slow slips in the Nankai subduction thrust in Japan using seafloor observation instruments. Here, the detectability is defined as the smallest magnitude of the interplate fault slip detected by the assumed observation points based on crustal deformation simulation. In the detectability analyses, we considered the effect of sensor drifts that are particularly associated with seafloor observations. In addition, we introduced high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) finite element modeling of crustal deformation to consider the effect of the topography and 3D heterogeneous crustal structure around the Nankai Trough. The results of the detectability analyses show that introducing new seafloor stations for tilt observation in the Nankai region should increase the detectability of small- or medium-sized interplate earthquakes and slow slips significantly. Based on the obtained results, we also discuss the advantage of both the existing and the new observation instruments in detecting interplate fault slips.

     

Indicator of paleosalinity: Sedimentary sulfur and organic carbon in the Jurassic–Cretaceous Tetori Group,central Japan

A simple geochemical technique using the ratio of total sulfur (TS) to total organic carbon (TOC) was successfully used to reconstruct paleoenvironments in the Jurassic–Cretaceous Tetori Group, central Japan. The TS to TOC ratio is often employed as an effective parameter to separate modern marine or brackish sediments from freshwater deposits. To test the TS/TOC method for paleoenvironmental interpretation of the Tetori Group, we first analyzed TS/TOC for samples for which depositional conditions (i.e. marine, brackish or freshwater) had been recognized paleontologically. The results indicate that the method can effectively separate sedimentary rocks deposited under freshwater from marine and brackish settings. Once we had established the effectiveness of this method, we applied it to three sections of the Tetori Group, central Japan. Stratigraphic fluctuations in TS/TOC values revealed episodic incursions of marine or brackish conditions in the dominantly freshwater depositional sequence in the middle of the Jobu Formation of the Itoshiro Subgroup at the Izumi section, Fukui Prefecture. The same paleoenvironment is also suggested to occur at the top of the Tetori Group in the Tateyama section, Toyama Prefecture. This research provides important information to paleogeographers who currently lack evidence from facies fossils to indicate if the uppermost part of the Tetori Group represents marine or brackish settings. A chemostratigraphy of TS/TOC parameters potentially could provide a correlation among Jurassic–Cretaceous sequences along continental margins over East Asia.     

Metamorphic P-T conditions and variation of REE between two garnet generations from granulites in the Sør-Rondane mountains,East Antarctica

Mineralogy and Petrology - In this paper, we describe the metamorphic conditions of Fe-rich granulite and variations in rare earth elements (REE) between peak garnet porphyroblasts and secondary...     

Redox history of the Three Gorges region during the Ediacaran and Early Cambrian as indicated by the Fe isotope

The Ediacaran-Cambrian transition is characterized by numerous events such as the emergence of large multi-cellular metazoans and surface environmental disturbances.Based on geological evidence,it has been proposed that this transition coincided with the increase in the atmospheric oxygen level that was key to the evolution of life.Even though ancient redox conditions can be inferred from the composition of sedimentary iron mineral species,this method is not necessarily applicable to all rocks.In the Earth system,the cycling of iron is of considerable interest owing to its sensitivity to redox conditions.Information regarding the paleo-oceanic iron cycle is revealed in the iron isotopic composition of ironbearing minerals.Unfortunately,only limited iron isotopic data exists for Ediacaran-to Cambrianperiod oceans.To circumvent this deficiency,we drilled a fossiliferous Ediacaran to Early Cambrian sedimentary succession in the Three Gorges region,South China.We analyzed the iron isotope ratios(δ~(56/54)Fe)of pyrite grains in the drill cores using laser ablation multi collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.The results demonstrate large variations inδ~(56/54)Fe,from-1.6 to 1.6‰,and positive iron isotope ratios are observed in many successions.The presence of positiveδ~(56/54)Fe in pyrite indicates that the ferrous iron in the seawater was partially oxidized,suggesting that seawater at Three Gorges was ferruginous during the Ediacaran and Early Cambrian periods.However,aggregated pyrite grains in organic carbon-rich black shales at Member 4 of the Doushantuo Formation and the base of the Shuijingtuo Formation yield near-zeroδ~(56/54)Fe values;this suggests that the ocean was transiently dominated by sulfidic conditions during these periods.Notably negativeδ~(56/54)Fe values,lower than-1‰,can be interpreted as a signature of DIR.The DIR also might contribute in part to the re-mineralization of organic matter during the largest negative carbon isotope anomaly in the Ediacaran.     

Improved description of global mixed-layer depth using Argo profiling floats

A global data set describing the gridded mixed-layer depth (MLD) in 10-day intervals was produced using high-quality Argo float data from 2001 to 2009. The characteristics and advantages provided by the new MLD data set are described here, including a comparison based on two different thresholds and using data sets of different vertical and temporal resolution. The MLD in the data set was estimated on the basis of a shallower depth of the iso-thermal layer (TLD) or iso-pycnal layer (PLD), calculated using the finite difference method. The MLD data are incorporated into 2° × 2° grid in the global ocean, including marginal seas. Also, two threshold values were used to examine differences in the MLD and its seasonal temporal variability. The characteristics and advantages of using the Argo 10-day intervals to determine the MLD were then confirmed by comparing those data with the station buoy daily means and the Argo monthly means. With respect to vertical and temporal resolutions, the Argo 10-day data has two distinct advantages: (1) improved representation of the MLD vertical change due to high vertical resolution, especially during periods of large MLD variability and (2) more detailed representation of the temporal change in MLD than achieved with the Argo monthly mean data, especially from winter to spring in mid and high latitudes. These advantages were maintained in the case of a larger threshold despite the fact that the MLD is rather deep and the detailed variation in its distribution differs depending on the season and location. This study also investigated the relative influence of TLD and PLD to the MLD calculation for each grid. Generally, the MLD is primarily determined based on the PLD at low and mid latitudes (TLD > PLD), whereas the TLD is more important at high latitudes, especially in winter (TLD < PLD). In the case of a larger threshold, the area of the larger PLD influence spreads polewards because of the greater effect of salinity in winter. Although there are some differences in the effect of temperature and salinity in estimations of the MLD, both are indispensable factors for the MLD estimations even at different thresholds.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Jurassic–Cretaceous Tetori Group,central Japan

Primary data on the organic geochemistry of the Tetori Group provide basic information about depositional environments and thermal maturation of organic matter through two geological sections in the Hokuriku region, central Japan. The thermal maturity of organic matter was evaluated by the methylphenanthrene index‐1. The maturity progressively increases stratigraphically down through the Izumi section in Fukui Prefecture. The estimated vitrinite reflectance equivalent is <1.35% near the top of the section, gradually increasing to >2.0% near the base. The thermal maturation process can account for stratigraphic changes in abundance of PAHs through this section. However, the occasional occurrence of coronene in the middle of the Izumi section is attributed to possible paleo‐wildfires that supplied more coronene to the depositional site. The stratigraphic distribution of PAHs through the Tateyama section, Toyama Prefecture, also can be explained by the same scenario as envisaged for the Izumi section, but weathering and/or other secondary factors may have partly modified primary signals for this section. Polycyclic aromatic sulfur compounds were observed in nearly all samples from both sections, even in samples for which a freshwater paleoenvironment is surmised. Most plausibly, some reduced sulfur was re‐oxidized to elemental sulfur, which persisted in the sediments and may have contributed to the formation of aromatic sulfur compounds. Hence, polycyclic aromatic sulfur compounds do not provide an index to separate marine environments from the freshwater settings for the Tetori Group.     

Fluids’ dynamics in transient air sparging of a heterogeneous unconfined aquifer

Water table dynamics, dissolved oxygen (DO) content, electrical resistivity (ER) in monitoring wells and air pressure in the vadose zone are monitored in air sparging (AS) accompanied by soil vapor extraction (SVE) at a hydrocarbon-contaminated groundwater site in Oman, where a diesel spillover affected a heterogeneous unconfined aquifer. The formation of a groundwater mound at the early stage of air injection and potential lateral migration of contaminants from the mound apex called for an additional hydrodynamic barrier constructed as a pair of pump-and-treat (P&T) wells whose recirculation zone encompassed the AS and SVE wells. In all monitored piezometers the phreatic surface showed a rapid and distinct peak, which is attributed to the time of air breakthrough from the injection point to the vadose zone and a relatively mild recession limb interpreted as a decay of the mound. Tracer tests showed a layer of a relatively low hydraulic conductivity at an intermediate depth of the screened interval of the wells. Increased levels of DO and borehole air pressure that have been observed (as far as 50 m away) are likely mitigated by SVE and P&T. Radius of influence can be indirectly inferred from ER and DO changes in the AS operation zone. Salt tracer tests have shown that groundwater velocity within the AS zone decreases with the increase of air injection rate.     

Inferred ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism of amphibolitized olivine granulite from the Sør Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica

This paper reports the first evidence of ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) metamorphism from the Sør Rondane Mountains, eastern Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, which is evident as orthopyroxene + spinel symplectite in an amphibolitized mafic granulite. The granulite consists of olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, pargasitic amphibole, plagioclase, and ilmenite, and it possesses a within-plate alkali basalt signature. The local bulk chemical composition of symplectite, major and trace element compositions, and thermodynamic calculations for the symplectite, suggest the presence of garnet at the high-pressure stage and that the symplectite formed from garnet, olivine, and primary orthopyroxene by decompression from more than 12 kbar at 1000 °C. The granulite records a subsequent amphibolite-facies overprint (<700 °C at <6 kbar) that involved the chemical re-equilibration of several phases. The obtained pressure–temperature (P–T) conditions and P–T path are different from the UHT metamorphism from the Schirmacher Hills, central Dronning Maud Land, which is considered to have occurred in a back-arc tectonic setting. The relatively high-P conditions and the decompression path reconstructed in the present study are similar to those reported for southern India, Sri Lanka, and part of northeastern Mozambique, possibly reflecting continental thickening and exhumation during the main collision event between East and West Gondwana.     

Crustal anorthosite formation by deep-seated hydrothermal circulation beneath fast-spreading axis: Constraints from chronological approach,Sr isotope,and fluid–chromite inclusion investigation

Hydrothermal circulation beneath the spreading axis plays a significant role in the exchange of energy and mass between the solid Earth and the oceans. Deep-seated hydrothermal circulation down to the crust/mantle boundary in the fast-spreading axis has been introduced by a number of studies regarding geological investigations and numerical models. In order to assess a reaction between hydrothermal fluid and host rock around the crust/mantle boundary, we conducted bulk trace element and Sr isotope analyses with a series of in situ investigations for crustal anorthosite, a reaction product between hydrothermal fluid and gabbro in the lowermost crustal section along Wadi Fizh, northern Oman ophiolite. In addition, we conducted titanite U–Pb isotope analyses to evaluate timing of the crustal anorthosite formation in the framework of the evolutional process of the Oman ophiolite. We estimated the formation age of the crustal anorthosite at 97.5 Ma ± 5.0 Ma, overlapping with the timing of the crust formation in the paleo spreading axis. The crustal anorthosite shows high-Th/U ratio (~2.5) and high-initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio (0.7050) due to seawater-derived hydrothermal fluid ingress into the precursor gabbro. With using analytical technique of micro-excavation at cryo-temperature, we detected Cl from a few micrometer-sized inclusion of aqueous fluid and chromite grains. The solubility of Cr was enhanced by complexation reactions with Cl in the hydrothermal fluid. Regarding reconstructed three-dimensional mass distribution of the inclusion and chromite composition, maximum Cr content of parental fluid was estimated at ~69 000 μg/g. The exceptionally high-Cr content was achieved locally by leaking of fluid and synchronous chromite crystallization during fluid entrapment. Presence of the deep-seated hydrothermal circulation could be assigned to the segment end, where cold seawater penetrates into the lowermost crust and extract heat along widely spaced network-like fluid channel.     

Geochemical and Microbiological Analysis of Sambe Hot Springs,Shimane Prefecture,Japan

Microbiological contribution to the formation of the manganese deposits in Sambe hot springs, Shimane, was investigated in combination with water chemistry, characterization of sediments and microbial community structure. Analysis of bacterial and fungal community structure based on DNA extracted from a Mn‐oxidizing enrichment culture indicated close matches with Pseudomonas putida, Phoma sp. and Plectosphaerella cucumerina, all Mn‐oxidizing microorganisms. These sediments were poorly crystalline and formed at neutral pH values, which is characteristic of biogenic precipitates. The EPMA results demonstrated a positive correlation between Mn and Ba contents in well‐crystalline Mn oxide grains. Substantial Ba contents were observed inside Mn oxide grains. These findings indicated that Ba contents in sediments are influenced by not only aqueous Ba²⁺ concentrations but also crystallinity of biogenic birnessite. Barium would be incorporated in birnessite during biomineralization.